MEETING OF THE PRINCIPAL OFFICERS HELD IN NOVEMBER 2002

IN BRIEF : UPDATE TO MEMBERS

Dear Readers,

ICEVI is organizing various meetings periodically to plan and review its activities.  Besides administrative issues, many policy issues are also deliberated in these meetings.  ICEVI feels that the policy issues discussed in such meetings may be of interest to the readers.  ICEVI will be updating you with this information, derived from various meetings, from time to time mostly through The Educator, its biannual magazine, and also through its electronic Newsline.  The first meeting of the Principal Officers of the current quadrennium was held in Hong Kong from 16 to 17 November 2002.  The following key points may be of interest to you:

1.       ICEVI and the World Blind Union are in the process of preparing a joint policy document on education of children with visual impairment.

2.       ICEVI will also be strengthening its collaboration with the IAPB and IMC. ICEVI will be making presentations in the 11^th International Mobility Conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa during March-April 2003 and also in the 7^th General Assembly of IAPB in Bahrain in September 2003.

3.       ICEVI and the Deafblind International are proposing to organize a joint Asia Region conference in 2004.

4.       ICEVI is initiating various measures to strengthen its involvement in UN related activities concerning persons with disabilities.

5.       ICEVI has been invited by the World Bank to associate itself in advocacy programmes dealing with disabilities (ICEVI was represented at the meeting of the World Bank on December 3, 2002 on account of the World Day of Disabled Persons).

6.       ICEVI has constituted a Research Task Force to formulate research proposals aimed at developing effective strategies to expand educational services for persons with visual impairment.  The Research Task Force will complete the preliminary work prior to the meeting of the Executive Committee to be held in South Africa in March 2003 at which time they will meet with all the regional chairs and finalise the formal development of a research committee.

7.       The Africa, East Asia, Latin America, and West Asia regions have developed more than 100 project proposals relating to creating awareness, capacity building, and innovative models of service delivery for implementation during 2003 under The Drs. Richard Charles and Esther Yewpick Lee Charitable Foundation Grant.

8.       The Newsline of ICEVI sent in October 2002 has generated a lot of interest among the readers.  E-mail addresses from members and supporters will continue to be added to our database to increase the readership of this biannual Newsline.

9.       Inclusive Education, Personnel Preparation, and Best Practices in services for persons with visual impairment are some of the likely themes of the forthcoming issues of the Educator.

10.     ICEVI is exploring the possibility of initiating need-based on-line courses in the distance mode in collaboration with the Hadley School for the Blind, U.S.A.  More information on this collaboration will be made known to the readers through the next issue of the Educator. 

11.     A CD describing the activities of ICEVI has been developed.  This will be used mostly by the Principal Officers and Regional Chairpersons for advocacy purposes.  It will be posted on the website soon for the benefit of the viewers.

Please feel free to contact the Secretary General for any further information on these points.

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